


The Death of You

by Kar9aiTheThird



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure: (Anime 2020)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Demons, Dreams and Nightmares, Friendship, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Relationship, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29145669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kar9aiTheThird/pseuds/Kar9aiTheThird
Summary: 'See how much family means to him” she says to the child like thing by her side. “He would not abandon us. He would fulfill his duty.”She drifts over to them, watching, unnoticed as Yamato and his brother wave good bye to the other siblings and the children part ways.“We shall have him as a brother for you,” She croons “Won’t you like that my love? 'Yamato is being haunted by a mysterious nightmare that's more than it first appears to be. Before his friends and family  figure how to help him overcome it, he may not make it.
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So to those of you that know me, sorry for posting this instead of working on my numerous works in progress. They aren't forgotten but this past summer I decided to introduce my kids to the original Digimon as something to do together during quarantine since I loved it as a child. Then I found out about the 2020 reboot and Kizuna and needless to say I was smitten hard by the nostalgia bug. I turned to fic to ease my pain but alas, I couldn't find what I needed. So I wrote some. 
> 
> This is set in season 02 but the 02 kids wont be making an appearance except perhaps cameos. Sorry.
> 
> I have a 7 chapter backlog and intend to update every two weeks. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed writing it and if you do, drop me a word. 
> 
> Enjoy

“ He’s such a nice boy,” she says, wistfully watching the four children again as they stand outside of a movie theater in downtown Odaiba. Having observed the children for weeks now, she’s familiar with their names and relations, the places where they gather and the mannerisms that draws her attention to them each day.

She hears Yamato insists Taker zip up his winter coat before he catches a cold, while he stuffs his own hands in his pockets and hunches down against the chilly breeze. Taichi says something about the movie they’ve just seen and the other two boys erupt in laughter. Hikari makes a face and folds her arms, but it’s clear she’s not really offended.

A gust of wind knocks her hood off for the second time since leaving the theater and her brother directs her to stand closer to the building, out of the cold. Yamato makes a face at his younger brother about the coat again which he still hasn’t fastened yet.

The winter evening lighting makes the children all appear unearthly and innocent; almost soft and collectable, but the auras that surround each of them, are bright and impenetrable. Still, she knows that will change as the night wears on.

“See how much family means to him” she says to the child like thing by her side. “ _He_ would not abandon us. _He_ would fulfill his duty.”

She drifts over to them, watching, unnoticed as Yamato and his brother wave good bye to the other siblings and the children part ways.

“We shall have him as a brother for you,” She croons “Won’t you like that my love?”

The young one nods without much enthusiasm, looking sullenly on as his mother circles the object of her obsession, “All will be well again, my dear. You shall have your due.”

The child-thing watches the children passively. But when his mother begins to follow a pair of them down the mildly bustling street, he dutifully drifts along beside her.

“You know you don’t actually have to walk me to my door, Onii-chan.”

“I know” Yamato answers amiably “but it’s on the way anyway and I want to.”

Takeru sighs without much heat “I know you always _want_ to look out for me, but really I’m ok and I really am old enough to look out for myself now.”

“I know you are Takeru, but it doesn’t stop me wanting to watch out for you. Doesn’t mean you can’t, I just like knowing is all. Ok? I know you’re not a little kid anymore, I just worry sometimes.” he looks earnestly at his little brother’s face fearful of having offended him again but unable to completely relinquish the urge to protect him.

Takeru smiles and shrugs good naturedly “Ok, Onii-chan, just remember that you don’t have to alright? Besides it goes both ways you know; sometimes you’ll need me to take care of you.”

Relieved, Yamato grins, stopping at the elevator in Takeru’s building “You already do Teeks. You’re a good brother.”

“Good night Onii-chan,” Takeru answers affectionately, stepping into the elevator “and thanks for the movie.”

As Yamato waves good bye and makes his way the three extra blocks to his building , the mother-thing drifts persistently behind him, observing his interactions intently. When he reaches his door and pauses to lets himself in. She tenderly addresses the child-thing dutifully next to her again. “Leave me here, my love. I feel the apex of the night drawing close and my strength will be enough to overwhelm his. He is unusually strong but no matter, we will have him soon. Go back and replenish your strength and let Mother work, I will return shortly.”

The small thing with his gray sallow translucent face and hollow black eyes, barely resembles a child. His clothes were obviously finely made at some point, but are rotten and torn throughout, his feet seem to not exist, fading to nothing somewhere about the ankles and his features are sharper and more hawkish than they should be with stringy damp hair plastered across his forehead. Altogether he looks every bit as lifeless and otherworldly as his mother, but without her maniacal and driven energy, all his movements embody the meaning of the word ‘drifting’.

He nods, marginally more animated than he has been thus far, “Of course Mother” He responds.

He stays behind as she enters the home, rapidly becoming less substantial, until he seems to melt away into the frigid air.

“Gabumon I’m back” Yamato calls into the dark apartment, unconscious of the entity that has followed him in.

“Hello, Yamato,” Gabumon enters the living area “How was your movie?”

“The movie was garbage,” Yamato laughs, “but we had fun anyway.” He hangs up his coat and takes off his boots by the door, roaming into the kitchen in his sock feet.

“What do you mean it was garbage?” Gabumon asks curiously

“Oh, I just mean it made no sense and wasn’t at all believable,” he answers rummaging through the fridge without success “Hey, you hungry?”

“Oh yes,” Gabumon enthusiastically pulls out a chair at the small table the three of them eat and hopping up onto it . “Unfortunately the leftovers Mr. Ishida mentioned leaving for me were not at all tasty, I much prefer your cooking.”

Yamato has a good laugh “Yeah, Dad isn’t the best cook.” He agrees when he recovers “How about some gyudon?” he offers . He grabs a skillet from the shelf and sets rice to cook.

“Sounds lovely” Gabumon answers

“Okay, grub will be up in about 20 minutes” Yamato announces getting busy.

The mother thing watches the strange creature wonder around seeming to look for something while it waits to eat. She wonders if it can somehow sense her presence. She does feel a slight discomfort when near it, but as the minutes pass, she can feel the drain on her power from being near the veil of this world lessen and she is delighted to see that the pesky blue aura around the child, has thinned considerably. The creature doesn’t matter even if it can sense her, she decides turning away from it.

She floats over to where the child is stir frying beef, oblivious to her presence as usual, yet for the moment still untouchable. It would have been easier, she supposes, to have targeted one of the myriad of other flesh and blood humans roaming about in this world, but most of them are almost completely closed off to her. So much so, that she has to concentrate to even see them properly. It’s exhausting and fruitless. But this child and his brother and the companions they spend their time with, are all so bright and visible that she can almost smell and taste them. She has watched them for some time now, her current existence being as dull as it is. But it wasn’t until about a week ago that she decided she would procure this one as a replacement long overdue.

She realizes they must all be special in some way, for someone like her; from the realm of the dead, to be able to observe them so. There could be no better addition to her family.

She smiles at him, “You will fit in nicely.”

“We should do something together, tomorrow” Yamato announces thoughtfully “we haven’t hung out much lately.”

“That sounds excellent,” Gabumon agrees “Maybe we could go fishing, we both really like that.”

“Yeah I do like fishing but it’s a bit too cold for that. Maybe I could bring you to the studio.”

“That sounds great.” Gabumon grins

When they finish eating a few minutes later, Yamato tosses his dishes in the sink. “Let’s leave the dishes until later,” He suggests “ I have a bit of studying to do any way.”

“Wow, Yamato” Gabumon exclaims depositing his dish in the sink as well “You sound like Jou, I’m impressed.”

“Not that much studying Gabumon”

Gabumon snickers quietly as Yamato stuffs the leftovers in the fridge and writes a note to his Dad about them.

“I just need to go over this math a bit more so I don’t flunk is all” He explains as they retreat into his bedroom.

“Sure,” Gabumon teases

Not a lot of studying actually happens and eventually Yamato gives up the pretense and they have fun until its late. Then Yamato check the doors and windows as he always does before turning in to bed. The mother thing finds it cute that they think they will be safe from anything malevolent with such simple measures. She follows the child tauntingly close, noticing how he’s beginning to feel her deathly chill, shivering as he passes her, but still he cannot hear her voice.

As he settles down into bed for the night, she knows it will be at least two more hours before she is powerful enough to pierce through his protection. But she can be a very patient creature.

When the zenith of the night is accomplished, bringing her realm and the realm of the humans together so closely that they nearly overlap, she surges from her world fully into his and enshrouds him, taking hold of his soul to bring it back with hers. Then the work of securing it will begin.

The child only slightly struggles as the darkness increases around him neither does he wake. There is no one to see, as his creature is asleep as well and when his heart beat suddenly quickens in fear, she know he has tasted of the shadowy hell she has had to inhabited for the past twenty years since her death.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The sensation of falling comes out of nowhere. Yamato doesn’t recall doing anything at all prior to this. He just suddenly finds himself hurtling towards the ground in a void black space until, without warning, he slams into what feels like a bundle of leaves, twigs and moss. He opens his eyes to see his surroundings but it’s so impossibly dark, that he can’t see anything but a hazy grayness in the distance.

He sits up achily, looking in all directions for any clue to where he is, but nothing makes sense in the dark. Suddenly, something large and furry scurries over his hand and he yanks it back scrambling to a standing position. He feels mildly dizzy once he’s standing so he instinctively stretches out his hand to keep from falling again and ends up grabbing hold of a tree trunk.

Realizing that he must be in a forest of some sort, he looks up to what should be the canopy. The tree tops are almost impenetrable with only specks of dark gray light filtering through. He wonders how he could have fallen through that with no sign left behind whatsoever.

After a second longer, his head stops spinning and he takes a tentative step forward. His eyes seem to grow accustomed to the dark and he can begin to make out the silhouette of the trees around him.

The world around him is eerily silent yet feels so oddly real that he’s not completely sure if he’s dreaming or not, he’s afraid to think too much on that, in case it isn’t a dream.

He walks forward a bit and calls out for Gabumon tentatively, afraid to break the silence, but there’s no answer.

When he emerges from the trees, the dim, sad light is slightly stronger and he can more clearly see where he is, but he isn’t completely sure that’s a good thing.

Around him is nothing but haphazard chaos. It reminds him of the first time they went to the digital world, and would often find random structures in places that made no sense, but this is so much worse. 

Every visible surface is black and the sky is an unending gray. Beyond the relative protection of the trees behind him, a silent freezing rain is falling making every surface cold and wet. There are all manner of abandoned debris everywhere; ladders stuffed into the ground leading to nothing, overturned and rotting cars, kitchen tables and children’s toys and clothes and dishes, strewn about the soggy ground as far as the eye can see. In the distance are giant rotating gears that reach up to the sky with weird platforms and levers protruding from them.

And worst of all, is a sense of being watched and a feeling of impending doom, along with the moving shadows that seem to suggest something is just out of the corner of his eyes yet never actually there when he looks.

He trudges along in the biting rain, calling Gabumon and hugging his arms around himself to stave off the cold.

He can’t describe how creeped out he is and he wishes he could just wake up. Gabumon doesn’t answer and by now Yamato is soaked through. The landscape is endless and doesn’t really change except he has now noticed more sinister debris lying about; large bones and beartraps and giant insects parts. He diligently watches his step to keep from getting caught as he walks along pointlessly in the general direction of the gears.

He stops calling Gabumon after a little while, he doesn’t think he’s in this awful world nor does he want him to be. On the other hand he really wishes he weren’t alone right now.

After what feels like days, while at the same time feels no longer than a few minutes, he finds himself in what probably used to be a walled garden. It doesn’t make sense how he’s gotten here but it seems he’s either lost time or the world changes like a channel around him.

The walls are covered in vines and ivy and there are twisting paths that lead further in to the garden with patches of gray grass on either side of them.

To the left of one of these paths close to him, he notices a woman sitting on a bench. Her clothes are tattered, muddy and black like everything else in the forsaken place, yet fancy in some way. Her hands are a light grey while her hair is a straight pitch black curtain. Both are hiding her face and she seems to be sobbing into them; her shoulders are hunched over and shaking.

She and her surroundings seem to have appeared out of nowhere and Yamato suddenly realizes he can hear her as well although everything has been silent so far. He can’t say with certainty that sound only just appeared though. His mind feels fuzzy and he can’t fully trust his senses. She may have been crying all this time.

“Hey, are you trapped here too?” he asks after a moment , but she doesn’t acknowledge him at all. 

“Hello? Can you hear me?” He cautiously walks up to her and calls again,

“Hey, hey, you’re not alone anymore.” He tries “Come on, maybe we can help each other.”

She still doesn’t stop or answer and he begins to think she can’t hear him, when he realizes she isn’t just crying, she’s mumbling something as well.

“What’s wrong,” he raises his voice. “I can’t hear what you’re saying”

“He’s gone” she seems to answer

“Whose gone?” he asks more gently

“My son” she sobs louder “he’s gone.”

Yamato takes pity on her while still trying to shake the feeling that something is off. If only he didn’t feel so loopy he could know for sure.

Despite the feeling, he decides it must be horrible to lose anyone in a place like this if that indeed happen. In either case, its possible she may know something he doesn’t about this place.

“Did you and your son get transported here like me?” he asks more urgently

“ _He_ ’s been gone so long,” she sobs “So, so long.”

She puts a strange emphasis on the word ‘He’ and Yamato is confused and frightened without knowing why. “I don’t understand, have you been here a long time? Has your son been here in this world for a long time?”

She doesn’t answer for a long time even when he asks again and still her face remains buried in her hands

Then out of nowhere, she asks, “Will you be my son?”

“Huh?” Yamato takes a few steps back surprised. Something really isn’t right here, But he just doesn’t know what yet. “No, you have to find your son, I can’t replace him.” He explains cautiously

He wonders not for the first time what he has stumbled upon and why he can’t seem to just wake up.

“My son!” She wails louder “He has no one, no brother to look out for him, he’s all alone.”

Yamato isn’t sure what to say anymore, he feels badly for her and her son, but he really, really just wants to go home and she doesn’t seem to be making a lot of sense either.

“I’m sorry about your son miss,” he says politely “But I don’t know where he is,” he finishes awkwardly. He wants to get away from her because …. He doesn’t know why, but he just wants out of there.

“Would you hold my hand?” she asks instead.

“Um I’m sorry,” he begins, backing away again, but she cuts in

“Please hold my hand, I’m so alone in this place and you’re such a nice boy. Please.”

She still hasn’t moved her hands from her face and Yamato is starting to be really certain that he should not touch her. “No miss, I have to go,” he begins to turn to go.

She suddenly looks up at him with large, red frightening eyes “Why not?”

He’s momentarily speechlessly frightened at the look of her. “Because I just cant” he answers fearfully. He simply knows now that he should get away from her as fast as possible.

“He’ll come for you if you don’t.” She argues darkly

Yamato pauses in his retreat “Who will come?” He gets the feeling she isn’t talking about her son anymore.

“Just He.”

Yamato suddenly feels as though he’s been drenched with a bucket of ice water. The sense of dread that’s been constantly present, starts screaming at him. At the same time he hears a demonic gurgle from behind him.

He whips around only to find nothing there.

“You should just hold my hand. It’s not a hard thing to do and if you don’t He will rip you up.”

Yamato turns back to her in dismay, but he is even more sure that he shouldn’t touch her.

“He’s almost here.” She says in a sing song tone when he still doesn’t obey.

Yamato tries to run but he can’t move. He tries to turn but something is holding him firmly in place. The gurgling sound has become louder and a shadow is moving across the walls of the dilapidated garden at a dizzying speed.

“No!” Yamato screams fighting against the invisible restraint.

“Now your bones will be everywhere too.” She says matter of factly “All because you wouldn’t listen.”

“No!”

The shadow slowly starts to coalesce into dark mass of wickedness in front of him. But the woman has disappeared.

Yamato begins to scream uncontrollably for Gabumon and just as a horrible black claw emerges from the darkness to strike him, he wakes up.

“Gabumon!” Yamato screams rocketing out of bed. “Gabumon!” he can’t gather his bearings and he’s not sure where he is. The darkness of his room isn’t helping matters nor can he see Gabumon anywhere, so for an agonizing few seconds he can’t be sure if it got him or not.

Gabumon touches his shoulder and calls him. Yamato flinches violently before he realizes who it is and that his partner has called his name for the third time now.

“I’m here Yamato, I’m here, what’s wrong?” Gabumon has never seen Yamato so frightened before.

“It was so real,” he whispers “I thought… I mean it felt like…”

“Are you alright Yamato,” Gabumon insists worriedly

“It was so real, Gabumon” Yamato finally looks at him but doesn’t seem to hear his question. “It didn’t feel like a dream, it felt like I was there.”

Gabumon notices that he’s trembling and he’s very, very cold to the touch.

“Yamato, what happened?”

“There was this horrible, black, cold, wet, place and a woman was crying but… something was wrong about her,” He runs his hands through his hair in agitation “I wouldn’t help her and she made this demonic thing, this horrible, terrible thing….” He pauses and shivers violently “It was going to kill me horrendously Gabumon and I couldn’t move.”

“It’s ok Yamato, you’re alright now,” Gabumon urges him “It can’t get you, I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

“I hope you never see it Gabumon” Yamato declares vehemently, staring at his clenched fists “I hope it was just a dream and you never see that horrible thing.”

“I’ll keep you safe from anything Yamato, “ Gabumon insists “No matter how terrifying.”

Yamato hugs him close for a long moment before laying down again somewhat apprehensively. Gabumon settles down next to him.

“Don’t worry Yamato, I’m not going anywhere,” Gabumon declares determinedly

“Thanks, Gabumon,”

The mother- thing watches them in frustration for over an hour before the child finally succumbs to sleep and even then the strange creature that protects him won’t sleep.

“Stubborn child” she hisses venomously, watching how the creature surveys the room as though he knows there is a supernatural cause to the nightmare. “No matter,” she smiles darkly, fading back into her own world again. “I will come every night until he is mine, and my beloved family _will_ be whole again.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to catch all the formatting errors that appeared when I imported it but i'm bound to have missed some.  
> Apologies for any you may see.

“Yamato!”  
A pause.  
“Yamato, you’re going to be late again!” Hiroaki waits another minute before he sighs in resignation and gets up from the kitchen table to see what’s taking his son so long again.  
He sets down the cup of coffee he’s had the rare pleasure of enjoying leisurely and knocks on Yamato’s door.  
When there is no answer he feels an inkling of concern and announces that he’s coming in.  
The sight that greets him isn’t commonplace, but it’s no cause for alarm either. 

“Yamato wake up,” Hiroaki shakes him lightly. He’s mildly surprised when he doesn’t wake right away; Yamato is usually a light sleeper. Gabumon doesn’t budge in the slightest either.

Must have been some ‘homework’ Hiroaki grins to himself “Come on sport, it’s time to get up,” he shakes him more vigorously.  
Yamato wakes with a shout, flinching away from his father’s touch, retreating further into the bed. Gabumon wakes instantly as well, all be it more smoothly, and whispers something to Yamato that sounds strangely like ‘it’s okay’.

“Hey, hey,” Hiroaki holds up his hands in a non-threatening manner “It’s just me son,” the inkling of concern refuses to be quiet. A reaction like that isn’t exactly normal.

“Are you ok Yamato, you slept through your alarm. Again” He looks him over carefully  
Yamato takes a moment to gather his bearings “Yeah, sorry, thanks Dad, I must have stayed up too late,” the explanation sounds rehearsed as he shuffles out of bed without meeting his eye and Hiroaki isn’t buying it.  
Yamato grabs his uniform from a spot in the corner of the room where it shouldn’t be and yanks his book bag from under the bed in a frenzied set of movements that does nothing to hide his shaking hands or put his dad at ease. 

“Slow down Yamato, no need to break your neck rushing, you’ve still got a few minutes. Have you been sleeping ok?”

“Well which is it Dad, am I late or not?” Yamato snaps irritably, stuffing supplies into the bag.

Hiroaki shoots Gabumon a questioning look. He’s gotten better at communicating with the strange animal and sometimes he provides insight into Yamato’s wellbeing that he wouldn’t otherwise be able to find out; Like what is bothering Yamato right now.

Yamato immediate looks chagrin and apologizes “Sorry Dad, I didn’t mean to snap. I’m fine ok, just a little cranky this morning and I don’t want to be late again,”

“I know I haven’t been around that much lately what with work being work, but you’d still tell me if anything were wrong right?” Hiroaki pries gently  
A look passes his son’s face for a moment, the shaking in his hands is still noticeable, more so because he’s still for a moment, and Hiroaki is certain Yamato’s actually about to tell him something, But then the look is gone and he grabs a random towel from his dresser to take a shower. 

“Of course I would,” his voice is actually pretty convincing “It’s no problem Dad, I know your busy. I’m ok, really, and I have Gabumon with me, right Gabumon?” He directs to his partner 

“Right,” the Digimon answers but he looks worried too.

“See I’m good”

“Ok son, if you say so.” Hiroaki concedes after a moment “by the way, I made extra coffee,” 

“Thanks Dad” Yamato sounds genuinely grateful.

They both leave the bedroom and just before Yamato shuts the bathroom door, Hiroaki adds “I don’t have to go in early this morning, how about I drive you? You won’t have to rush so much.”  
Yamato looks almost … hopeful, for a moment, definitely more interested in being driven than he usually is. “Sounds great, Thanks”

“Sure thing kiddo,” Hiroaki nods before heading back to the kitchen. 

He sits down again to sip his coffee thinking about the pesky traits Yamato has inherited from him, like the inability to open up when its necessary. A moment later Gabumon wonders out of Yamato’s room and takes a seat at the table as well.  
Hiroaki gives the Digimon a stern look. It hadn’t taken long for him to grow to appreciate Gabumon’s influence on his son, all those years ago when monsters had suddenly started destroying the city. One could say he’s come to rely on the Digimon’s protection what with all the things his sons get up to, but still a Dad has to check in once in a while.  
“I’m counting on you to look out for Yamato, Gabumon.” He says after staring just long enough to make Gabumon nervous,

“Of course sir,” Gabumon answers just as seriously 

“You haven’t let me down so far” it’s a clear incentive not to break that streak.

“Of course not sir, and I don’t intend to.” 

“That’s good,” Hiroaki relaxes slightly, chalking the whole thing up to a couple late nights “ I trust that you wont. Just try and keep the late night adventures to a minimum ok?”

Gabumon looks a little confused but nods “Yes, sir”

A few minutes later Yamato emerges looking not exactly bright eyed, but at least not as stricken as a few minutes ago.

He grabs the cup of coffee Hiroaki just poured for him and practically guzzles it. Hiroaki and Gabumon both wince in sympathy.

“Ok I’m ready to go now,” He says placing the mug on the counter

“Isn’t that hot?” Gabumon asks at the same time that Hiroaki says “You have time to get breakfast you know.”

“Not really, and I’m not hungry” He answers them both.

“Ok,” Hiroaki says after a moment’s pause. He swallows the last of his own brew and grabs his keys from the table. “Come on then.”

“That was black coffee” Gabumon mumbles in wonderment from behind them “even I know that’s disgusting.”

“It’s not that bad Gabumon,” Yamato answers “Just stronger, really”

“That’s how I like it,” Hiroaki adds with a grin “Come on,” he opens the front door.

“I’d like to come along for the ride if you don’t mind” Gabumon asks suddenly. 

“Sure,” Yamato looks pleasantly surprised.

“Fine with me,” Hiroaki gestures out the door.

Once they’re in the van and on their way, Hiroaki thinks about the fact that if something really were wrong with Yamato he probably wouldn’t be the first or second to know. Its no secret he’s somewhat removed from the life of his sons without meaning to be, and that Yamato actually make it rather easy to do so.  
He’s a good kid, if a little moody sometimes, but he generally doesn’t need much minding or attention and he stays out of trouble most of the time. He’s independent enough, that Hiroaki, who admittedly cannot be accused of being a diligent parent, doesn’t have to oversee his life. Not being forced to get involved means, unfortunately Hiroaki often doesn’t at all.  
He glances in the mirror at Gabumon sitting in the next row looking out the window. When it comes to danger or the other hair raising activities that Yamato and his friends get into, Hiroaki really does trust the Digimon to look out for his son, but as his Dad, he should be making more of an effort to be present.  
“So Yamato, do you and your band have any good shows coming up? “ he starts off somewhat awkwardly.  
Yamato doesn’t answer for quite some time and when it seems like he’s going to ignore him altogether, Hiroaki glances over to see what’s up, but Yamato is completely asleep with his head on the window. It’s both an endearing and worrying sight. 

“Gabumon, “ Hiroaki frowns “You two have got to stop staying up so late, I’ve never seen him so tired.”

Gabumon looks torn for a moment

“We haven’t been staying up late Mr. Ishida,” He confesses eventually. “Yamato has been having horrid nightmares every night for the past week. He doesn’t seem to know what’s causing them and he’s been losing a lot of sleep, but you know Yamato, he doesn’t like to talk about what’s bothering him. In fact he’ll be angry that I told you.  
He doesn’t want anyone to worry, But I am worried; he hardly sleeps anymore.”

Hiroaki is silent for a moment digesting this information. 

“So that’s why he was so agitated when I woke him this morning.” 

Gabumon nods in confirmation. “He’s really not sleeping well.”

Hiroaki glances at his son’s sleeping form. “I appreciate you telling me Gabumon,” He finally answers glancing in the rear view at the Digimon again. Gabumon looks as though he’s gotten a weight off his chest. 

“Don’t worry about Yamato, he’ll understand. It’s my job to worry I’m his Dad.” Hiroaki reassures him. He takes a few extra turns to give Yamato a couple more minutes to sleep since they’ve made good time.

“I’ll try again to talk to him, if I don’t push too hard, maybe he’ll open up.” he reasons though he doesn’t sound convinced “Whatever this is will pass, Just keep an eye on him in case it gets worse and let me know if it’s time to get involved whether he wants me to or not.”

“Are you asking me to spy on Yamato, Mr. Ishida?” Gabumon asks curiously

“Not spy, just keep him safe, even from himself,”

Gabumon nods decisively “That I can do.”

Hiroaki nods in thanks.

Yamato wakes much more calmly when Hiroaki nudges his shoulder a minute later and exits the vehicle with noticeable reluctance. “Have a good day kiddo.” Hiroaki tells him.

“Thanks Dad, bye Gabumon,” Yamato waves as they drive away.

Yamato breathes a sigh of relief when his dad drives off without giving him anymore worried looks and heads up the stairs into the school building. Having his Dad shooting him worried looks and trying to talk about what’s bothering him, makes him feel unbalance and in unknown territory. He and his dad have a kind of mostly wordless relationship, in which they understand each other best when not trying to share.  
Dysfunctional or not, trying to actually articulate his feelings to people makes him uncomfortable and he seems to always say the wrong thing anyway or end up misunderstood except by his closest companions. Its easier to just orbit one another with a mutual, amicable distance between them, not subjecting one another to their abysmal communication skills.  
They get along pretty well this way too. He’s in no way on bad terms with his dad. He knows he cares about him and his welfare, and Yamato wouldn’t hesitate to come to his aid if the roles were reversed. They both know this, and they don’t have to talk about it.  
Thinking of trying to explain to him why he’s suddenly having nightmares, when he doesn’t even know himself, is beyond him at the best of times, much less now when his brain feels like mush.  
Besides, he’s not going to make his problem into someone else’s responsibility either. Not even his Dad’s. Not when there is really and truly no need. A simple nightmare, admittedly a persistently disturbing one, is no reason to worry his over worked father. It’s as simple as that.  
Solving the problem himself isn’t complicated either. It’s a simple matter of finding out what’s actually bothering him so he can get over it. No one can do that for him, better than himself.

And he will.

He just needs to survive this school day first.

He hauls himself up the last flight of stairs to his homeroom floor using the railing more than his legs and when he does reach the top, the bustle of students on their way to class, discourages him from actually stopping to rest. Making a scene is the last thing he wants to do. Instead he’s basically swept along in everyone’s rushing about until he branches off to head down the hall to Mr. Shibata’s class.  
There are a few students he’s acquainted with in this hall and they give him curious looks as he droops into view. He immediately plasters on a look of normalcy, and stands up straighter so no one will ask him if he’s ok or offer to sends him to the nurse and he has no doubt that upon close inspection that’s exactly where he’d be headed. Night after night of nothing resembling rest is excellent at chipping away at his mood and energy. He feels practically dead, so he must look that way too.  
He leans against the wall when the other children pass after greeting them half-heartedly and tries to collect himself enough to look like he intends to pay attention to math.  
After a deep breath, he slides the door open shuffles a few desks over and drops into his seat just as the bell rings. He counts himself victorious so far.

“Hey Yamato,” He looks over to see Taichi waving and he feels a little relieved to see his best friend just a few seats over. It’s not as though Taichi will make it better but he wont have to expend half so much energy keeping up the façade of normalcy around him. It’s like having Gabumon around; he can just be himself; no matter how lousy and uncommunicative he may feel.  
“Hey Taichi,” Yamato leans around the student in front of him and waves back “I forgot you transferred to Mr. Shibata’s algebra.”  
“Yeah, hopefully he’s better than Ms. Kaneko. Taichi frowns slightly “You ok? You’re looking a little extra pale there.” Yamato feigns ignorance “What are you talking about?”  
Taichi gives him a look that says he’s not fooled. 

Yamato sighs. “Its nothing really. I just went to bed way too late is all.”

Taichi grins “Oh yeah, doing what?”  
Yamato is saved from answering when Mr. Shibata calls for everyone to settle down and Taichi turns around to face the board. But Yamato knows he’s not off the hook.  
Mr. Shibata immediately begins to drone on about square roots and although Yamato normally enjoys the subject of mathematics, he isn’t concentrating in the least. His mind keeps coming back to his night time problem and how much he’d like a nap.  
It would help to put the whole thing out of his mind if he could understand what he’s dreaming about. Which a lot harder than it sounds. He’s been dreaming about pretty much the exact same thing every night for a week, but he’s no closer to understand what the heck is he actually dreaming about.  
There’s always a consuming sense of dread and terror and the woman crying in that awful dark place. But then she always wants something from him, why? Who is she? Why does she get so angry when he refuses? What is she actually asking of him? And why does he so strongly feel that he shouldn’t give in? It doesn’t make sense. The creature she sends after him is much more terrifying yet despite her ire he cant bring himself to do as she says. On the other hand he’s not sure doing as she wants would actually stop the monster from appearing either.  
All in all, he’s pretty certain that her constant requests, and the shadowy creature are both connected and key to why the dream keeps returning. But how and why does this matter so match that he doesn’t dream about anything else?  
There is nothing particularly stressful going on in his life right now. In fact things are pretty boring right now. As far as he knows this started back when he went to the movies with Takeru, Taichi and Hikari but nothing happened then either.  
He went home ate dinner, did some homework, went to bed. Big Deal. Why was it so hard to get a good night’s sleep now?

He lays his head on the desk in frustration, thankful for the fact that he’s completely hidden behind the guy in front of him. Mr. Shibata absolutely hates when the students don’t pay attention but there’s no way he’s going to be able to notice Yamato napping at his desk with the giant of a kid in front of him. The guy must have hit his growth spurt over the past month or something because Yamato could swear that he’s four inches taller today than he was last week.  
Yamato stifles a yawn in his elbow, barely able to stay awake any longer. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to dream in the day so he decides to take advantage of the situation and grab a few minutes of much needed rest. 

It feels as though he’s only been asleep for two minutes when a sudden bang pierces the veil of blessed dreamless sleep so violently that he slams his knee in the bottom of the desk and the hammering of his heart in his chest makes his hands shake horribly. He immediately become the center of attention.  
The student in front of him , Hara, Yamato slowly recalls his name, looks as though he hadn’t expected Yamato to react so badly when he thumped the table to wake him up.  
He glances back to the teacher muttering that Yamato’s awake now as though that wasn’t abundantly obvious.  
“Is something wrong Ishida?” the teacher asks in a frustrated voice. The whole class is unabashedly staring at him.

“No sensei, I’m fine.”

“Do you need to go to the nurses office?” the teacher asks unconvinced

“No! I’m completely fine. It won’t happen again.” the sooner everyone can go back to looking at the board the better. There’s nothing wrong with him. He clasps his hands in front of him to stave off the trembling and wills himself to calm down. He glimpses Taichi sending him a curious look and meets his eye for a second before looking back at the teacher and trying to mentally convincing him to drop the issue and go back to teaching.  
After a few more seconds, Mr. Shibata sighs and adjust his glasses in a way that reminds Yamato of Jou. “If you say so Mr. Ishida, but see that it does not.”

“Yes, Sensei,”

After a few more inquisitive looks, the rest of the class forgets about him and turns back to the board except Taichi.  
“What’s the matter,” he mouths under his breath, but Yamato just shakes his head mouthing “later”. There’s no way he’s going to be able to explain this with a look. Seems he’s going to have to explain himself today after all.  
Its only about three more minutes before the bell rings and Yamato realizes he was asleep for a lot longer than he thought. He gratefully melds into the throng of children leaving the room and rushes to get to his next class without further incident and possibly escape explaining to Taichi that he fell asleep in class because he’s been having bad dreams. But Taichi catches up to him with ease, grabbing his shoulder.

“Hey wait up,” 

Yamato sighs and slows his steps 

“You ok? Mr. Shibata had to call you like three time before he asked that brute to wake you up.”

Yamato shrugs but appreciates the fact that he doesn’t directly call attention to how badly he startled when Hara thumped his desk. The embarrassment of everyone staring at him was enough.

“But seriously,” Taichi continues “You don’t look too good.”

Yamato frowns, slinging his bag over his shoulder and stuffing his hands deep into his pockets  
“I’ve been having this reoccurring nightmare lately,” He concedes quietly as they both walk to his next class. “I don’t even understand what its about but I can’t get a wink of sleep anymore.”

“I’ve been having nightmares on and off too but not that bad,” Taichi acknowledges thoughtfully  
“Yeah?” Yamato asks looking at him more closely. He hadn’t noticed before being so wrapped up in himself but Taichi looks a little tired too. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say they’re dreams may have something to do with their shared past. They do often share a lot of the same experiences especially when it comes to the more hazardous parts of their lives. 

“Yeah,” Taichi answers easily “Sometimes it’s this dark weird place and a woman crying in the distance, I can see her in the distance sitting somewhere but I can never reach her.”

Yamato feels an inkling of fear at how similar their dreams are. 

“What makes you wake up?” Yamato asks hesitantly

“Sometimes I suddenly feel like I’m falling, but most of the time, this horrible creature appears in the distance and starts charging at me, at that point I kind of just nope out. It’s pretty unnerving. Taichi doesn’t meet his eye. “I haven’t told anyone except you.”

Taichi notices the unnerved look on Yamato’s face. “What is it?”

“Its just really, really similar is all.” Yamato answers unsettled. He readjust the bag strap on his shoulder.

Taichi looks concerned waiting for Yamato to elaborate.

“A dark creepy place, with freezing cold rain, a crying woman sitting in a garden and the terrifying black shadowy creature that’s this close to tearing me apart.” He hold up two fingers about a centimeter apart.

“Its always raining in my dream too.” Taichi sounds as concerned as Yamato feels. “I don’t know what this all means,” he says as they reach Yamato’s second period room. He turns to face him before he goes in.  
“I think we should talk about it some more later. It’s a little too weird to ignore.” 

Yamato nods in agreement 

“Meet me in the soccer field after school ok?” Taichi suggests “And try not to fall asleep again in the meantime.” 

“Ok,” Yamato feels a bit better having told Taichi “Thanks”

“Of course,” Taichi answers rushing down the hall to get to his own science class “See you later.” 

That afternoon, Yamato slowly makes his way to the soccer field in the back of the school, glad that the next day is Friday and that after that he won’t have to pretend he’s alert for two whole days.  
He did fall asleep in anymore of his classes but it can be argued that he wasn’t present for thme either. He pretty much spent the whole day in a exhausted fog where in he simply counted down the hours until he could leave.  
A few minutes later, he plops down on a bleacher near the left side of the field where Taichi is practicing juggling his soccer ball. Just looking at him makes Yamato want to hibernate even though Taichi makes it look so easy. Yamato doesn’t interrupt him though, juggling a soccer ball always seemed to help Taichi think. 

“There you are,” he says when Yamato drops his backpack onto the bench with a thud “I thought maybe you got lost on the way.”

“I’m too tired to answer that,” Yamato quips slouching back and closing his eyes

Taichi takes pity on him and stops expending energy on the ball. “You really look wiped.” He observes settling beside him on the bench. Yamato opens one eye to shoot him a look but doesn’t otherwise respond.

“When did you say this started” Taichi asks

“Last week after the movies,” 

“Strange, that’s when mine started,” Taichi hums “Like, that same night.”

Yamato looks at him “So we’re pretty much dreaming the same thing and it started at the same time?” he sounds frustrated “What, did I catch your nightmare?” he complains

“More like I caught yours,” Taichi sounds as though he means it

“How do you figure that,” Yamato demands

“Because yours is obviously worse, “ Taichi responds simply

Yamato doesn’t have a reply for that. “Why are we really dreaming the same thing though,” he wonders after a moment.

“I don’t know,” Taichi rests his chin on the ball in his lap “Why don’t you tell me what happens. Maybe they only have a few things in common.”

Yamato hesitates for only a moment “I find myself in this horrible dark cold place were its raining all the time and there’s depressing trash everywhere. There’s random stuff everywhere sticking and I’m wondering through that stuff for a while and always after a bit, out of nowhere, there is this Sticking out of the ground or laying about. Then suddenly there’s this woman sitting on a bench in an old garden crying.  
Whenever I ask what’s the matter, she instead asks me to do something. I don’t because it seems like something weird is going on but, then she tells me that since I won’t this shadowy creature is going to get me and every time it almost does. If I didn’t wake up, I’m certain I’d be ripped to shreds.”

“Hmm, its different but way too similar to be coincidence,” Taichi contemplates “Everything you described is just the way it looks to me; I can hear the woman crying and she is sitting on a bench but she’s far away and the creature is too when it appears.  
But she does seem to be talking to someone though,” His eyes widen in realization, “Maybe it’s you!”

“So you’re in my dream?” Yamato asks skeptically

“I don’t know, maybe,” Taichi reasons

“That doesn’t make any sense. And if that is so, which is creepy , why am I dreaming it. What does she want with me or how do I make her and her monster go away?”

“I don’t have all the answers,” 

“Those aren’t any answers, they’re just more questions.” Yamato argues

“Different questions,” Taichi insists

Yamato leans back on the seat “I just want to know what to do to get a good night’s sleep again.”

“Maybe she’s a Digimon and that’s why I’m seeing her too?” Taichi suggests half heartedly 

Yamato actually considers this for a while but ultimately dismisses it. “She doesn’t seem to be a Digimon at all, or her attack dog.” He declares staring up at the overcast sky

“So she looks completely normal?” Taichi asks skeptically  
“I didn’t say a word about normal. She looks human enough but wrong and she asks weird stuff too. Like can I be her son or will I hold her hand.”

Taichi frowns but says nothing and both boys quietly ponder the problem.

Yamato eventually looks over at Taichi nervously “Do you ever walk through that place and see… like bones and stuff ?”

Taichi holds his look for a few moments before looking away “Yeah, it’s one of the things that makes it so disturbing.”

Yamato nods once, looking up at the sky again, “Once when I refused to do something she asked, she said the creature was gonna scatter my bones all over the place too. I think if whatever wakes me up every night doesn’t happen, it will.”

Taichi watches him with wide eyes.

“Sometimes its multiple times a night,” Yamato sits up and rests his elbows on his knees. “To tell you the truth, it doesn’t even feel like a dream when I’m there.” He seems to sigh with his whole body “I don’t know what’s going on. I just wish I could sleep.”

A heavy silence falls between them for a while, both boys unnerved by the predicament. Eventually Taichi hops off the bleachers and holds out a hand.

“Come on, its getting dark,” Yamato takes his hand and hauls himself up.

“I’m going to have Koushiro contact Gennai about this just to rule out digital world stuff.”

Yamato shrugs listlessly.

“In the meantime why don’t you sleep over tomorrow?”

Yamato considers it. 

“It may help matters.” Taichi adds “Maybe we can find out if it happens at the same time to know for sure if it’s the same dream or not a dream or what,”

“Yeah, thanks,” Yamato says gratefully “sounds like a good idea.”

“Good,” Taichi nods satisfied. He looks up at the waning winter light. “Let’s get home,”

They walk in companionable silence for most of the way. Until Yamato has a sudden thought,  
“You know,” He says when his apartment comes into view, “Maybe my house is just plain haunted.”

“With what?” Taichi looks dubiously at the building “It’s not that old and nothing gruesome happened there.”

“Not that we know of,” Yamato counters 

Taichi considers it for only a moment “I guess, but that seems far-fetched.” He folds his arms behind his head. “We’ll know for sure tomorrow. If you sleep better at my house, then maybe it is.”

“Maybe,”

“Still doesn’t explain how I can be eavesdropping on your dreams though.”

“It sounds even creepier when you say it that way.

Taichi grins conspiratorially “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” 

Yamato groans in annoyance.

When they reach Yamato’s door, Taichi taps his shoulder “Try and get some rest okay?”

“Yeah thanks,” Yamato answers quietly

They part ways and Yamato watches Taichi jog down the street the rest of the way home before dark. 

Maybe borrowing a little of that courage his best friend is famous for, to confront his fear once and for all is how he’ll get past this. Maybe, that’s what will break the cycle. All he knows is that he can’t keep this up much longer; one way or another something is going to give.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't seem like anyone is reading this but maybe its too early to tell so i went ahead and posted Hope you all enjoy.


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